All Pacific Gravity news.

Pacific Gravity Club Meeting Thursday, June 16th at Tortugo Brewery

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Greetings Pacific Gravity!
Our next club meeting is on June 16, 2022 at Tortugo Brewing Co, located at 916 W Hyde Park Blvd, Inglewood, CA 90302.   (424) 227-9963
We will get started about 7:30 PM.

We will discuss upcoming events, the next First Friday and the Summer Party!

We have restarted the ‘style of the month’ effective with the May meeting, which you can find here.    For June, the official beer is Pale Ale.  Of course, at any meeting, any beer you have brewed will be gladly accepted and drank!

Our monster brew last month at  Smog City Brewing was a rousing success.  Seventy-five batches were sold using a modified recipe of Little Bo Pils.  We hope to see many of these beers  with a diversity of modifications at summer party! Thank you Porter for a great time!

Results have been release for the 2022 Mayfaire homebrew competition.  Congratulations to Carl Townsend for his first place at IPAs with his “Let the Wookie Win” black IPA, and for his second place ribbon for Czech Dark Lager.  Full results can be found at https://competitions.maltosefalcons.com/2022Mayfaire/

We had a great showing for our First Friday on Second Saturday at All Season Brewing in Korea town.   The IPAs were quite solid as was the fruited Berliner weisse.  We wish to thank the team for their recent sponsorship of Pacific Brewers Cup.

It is gratifying that we have resumed gathering in person, but as always we encourage and expect everyone will be vigilant about their own health to ensure the groups safety!  Please observe all safety precautions and stay home if you do not feel well.

I hope to see you all at our meeting!

Cheers,

Ian Fraser
President

Annual Dues

It’s time to renew your annual membership dues for the Pacific Gravity Home Brewers Club. Your dues are the primary way we fund such club activities as club parties, monthly meetings, club brews and much more.  Your paid membership also ensures that you’ll continue to receive the many club benefits available, access to various brewing activities, discounts and information. Stay tuned for more information on upcoming members only opportunities!

Individual Membership = $36/yr – Renew now with PayPal: https://py.pl/BiB2I
Couples Membership = $54/yr  – Renew now with PayPal: https://py.pl/2T086cDIgzz

Upcoming Events

Saturday, July 23  SUMMER PARTY at Dean Sussman’s place.

Thursday, August 18:  Club Meeting at Tortugo Brewing.

 

Upcoming Styles

  • June – Pale Ales
  • July – Summer Party (all styles)
  • August – Wits and Wheats
  • September – IPAs
  • October – Festbiers and Amber lagers
  • November – Dark beers
  • December – Holiday Party (all styles)

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Homebrew Fest Details – Sign Up Now

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We are less than two weeks away from the 2022 Southern California Homebrew Festival, which will be back live in person after a two-year hiatus due to COVID.  If you haven’t ever attended, this is a three-day camping and beer-drinking fest, with all the other clubs in the Southern California region. It will be held at Vail Lake KOA Resort, just outside Temecula, California.  If you haven’t already signed up, here is what you need to do no later than April 27th.

  • Join the California Homebrewers Association at https://www.calhomebrewers.org/ .  Cost is $10. You must do this before purchasing fest admission.
  • Purchase the Fest Admission from CHA. Cost is $60.
  • Contact Terry Molloy at [email protected] and let him know you will be attending.  If you want to reserve an RV space, the cost is $130 (We have 1 left).  If you just want a space for a tent, the cost is $30.  Car pooling is recommended; there is an added fee for additional vehicles. Alternately, if you are not into the camping thing, you can book a hotel room in Temecula, in which case you are on your own.  You can get a shuttle pass from CHA, but check the hours carefully.
  • Contact Carl if you have kegs to serve at the fest, so we know how many taps to have on hand. Email him at  [email protected] .

So, what goes on at the festival?  Check out the complete rundown here: https://www.calhomebrewers.org/2022-schf-info/

Here are the main schedule details: Read more →

Competition Corner – March 2022

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We have two competition updates that need your attention:

First up is the American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Competition.  This is a multi-step process, and you must be an AHA member to register.  Step 1 is to enroll your desire to enter the competition, which you must do by March 29th, 3PM Mountain time.  AHA members will have been emailed a username (email address) and password to enroll in the competition, request the amount of beers they’d like to enter and pay for their entries.  If there are more requested entries that AHA can handle, they will create a wait list.  Actual entry confirmation and bottle submission will not occur until May, so you can still brew something if you intend to enter.   Note that you will need SIX bottles for each entry, so don’t overdo it.

Next up are details for the Maltose Falcons Mayfaire Competition.  Entry registration is now up and running at: The 44th Annual MaltoseFalcons Mayfaire Homebrew Competition!

Two bottles are needed for each entry, and costs just $10 per entry.  This year the Falcons have switched over the the BJCP style guidelines.  Entry deadline is April 22nd.  If you bring your entries to the Club Meeting on April 21 at Tortugo Brewery, I’ll run them up to the Valley Friday morning.

We also will try to set up a preliminary judging session on the Westside the first week of May, so drop me a line if you can do some judging.

Get those brew kettles going!

Carl Townsend
Competition Coordinator

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Saturday, April 2, 2022:
NOON on Saturday
4th Horseman, 121 W. 4th St.
Long Beach, Ca. 9080

April Club Meeting:
Thursday, April 21, 2022
Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W Hyde Park Blvd
Inglewood, CA 9030

April 29 – May 1, 2022
Southern California Homebrew Festival
Vail Lake, Temecula

 

 

Join the Future of Pacific Gravity!

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You could win one of these vintage beers! Apply today to enter the raffle.

Apply Now!

Remember when Pacific Gravity hosted massive summer parties, organized exciting bus trips, incubated successful commercial brewers, and even won California Homebrew Club of the Year (twice in a row)?

My how times have changed. We have fewer members and less money in the bank. Our membership is trending older. We lost our sister homebrew supply shop. And social distancing has been a real buzzkill. We’re not alone: Other clubs like Strand have also been struggling.

How much longer can we keep this going? 5 years? 10 years?

Yet hope remains while the company is true. The pandemic is easing, we have a core group of committed members, we enjoy strong partnerships with local breweries, and we’re welcoming a slow trickle of new members.

So we’re trying something new. We’re putting together a team of 3-7 people to do radical out-of-the-box thinking. A team who will be doing a lot of brainstorming and questioning everything. A team that will be diverse in its perspectives and experiences. A team that hopefully reflects the future of Pacific Gravity.

Do you enjoy craft beer? Are you open to new possibilities? Can you devote 5-10 hours per month for the next year? If so, then you might be a great fit.

Apply Now!

The application deadline is Friday, March 4. Imagine what’s possible by our 30th anniversary!

Questions? Comments? You can email us at [email protected].

Pacific Gravity Club Meeting Thursday February 17th

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Greetings Pacific Gravity!
Please join us this Thursday February 17, 2022 as we resume normal activity with a live monthly meeting!  We will get started at 7:30 PM.February Monthly MeetingTortugo Brewing Co.
916 W. Hyde Park Blvd.
Inglewood,  CA  90302
(424) 227-9963

We will have lots to discuss…  Like our 27th anniversary!  We’ll have a beer to toast the occasion! We will try to get back to naming a ‘style of the month’ for future meetings. Joe should have a couple of new beers for us to try so come on out. So dust off those cobwebs, come on down and say “Hi” to all those people you sort of remember! Again!

Special Note: I am sorry to announce that this Saturday’s ‘First Friday’ event at the Stuffed Sandwich has been postponed (again!) to Saturday, March 5, 2022 due to a scheduling conflict.

Please make sure you  are vaccinated and have no symptoms before attending.

See you there!

Cheers,
Ian Fraser
President

Upcoming Events

March 5th, 2022:  Stuffed Sandwich
March 17th Club Meeting: TBD
Our mailing address is:
Pacific Gravity
P.O. Box 2451
Los Angeles, Ca 90066

Holiday Party Setup Saturday, Dec 4th, Member of the Year elections

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As we move into the festive time of year, we are delighted to announce that Neil Saund will be hosting the Annual Holiday Party at his Duplex in Marina Del Rey on December 11th.

But first:  We need to deck the halls!  Please join us Saturday morning December 4th at 9:00AM to decorate the tree, put up the Christmas lights and in general, get things party-ready.

Holiday party Set-up Session:
When:  Saturday, December 4, at 9:00AM. 
Where:  12966 Rubens Ave, Los Angeles, CA. (at Alla Road)

Things to bring:
Folding Tables, Chairs, and any special decorations you may want to put up.  Ian will be getting the tree and Tim will bring Christmas lights.

Member of the Year Nominations:
We are still accepting nominations for Member of the Year.  Nominees include:
Ian Fraser
Rob Kadota
Eric Muhlheim
Carl Townsend

The cut-off for voting is Noon on December 4th.  If you did not get a chance to vote at the Chili cookoff, you can send your selection to [email protected].

Holiday Party Details
As noted above, the Holiday party will be a Neil’s Duplex on December 11th at 5:00PM.  Rumor has it Read more →

Pacific Brewer Cup Winners Announced

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Greetings Fellow Homebrewers:

After a year and a half of covid-related delays, we are please to announce the winners of the 2021 Pacific Brewer Cup.  Congratulation to Steven Severn of the Orange County Mash-ups for his Best of Show entry Janet’s Brown Ale, brewed as a memorial to Mike “Tasty” McDole, a renowned homebrewer who passed away just over a year ago.  Janet’s Brown Ale was itself a memorial brew first brewed by Tasty to honor the memory of his wife Janet who passed away in 2001.  Congratulations Steven, and a salute to your fallen comrades.

Our first Runner-up was a dry sparkling Cider brewed by Kyle Brawley.  Rounding out the top three was a Märzen brewed by Carl Townsend.

The Best Brewer award goes to Jon Silvertooth of Long Beach Homebrewers.  Jon had three first-place beers, and also led the charge for the Top Club award which goes to Long Beach Homebrewers.

Full result can be found at:http://comp.pacificgravity.com/ Read more →

Entry Window Open for 2021 Pacific Brewers Cup

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Greetings Fellow Hombrewers:

After more than a year-long hiatus, October is here and we are eager to do some homebrew judging!   The official registration page of 2021 Pacific Brewer Cup is now up and running!  Pacific Brewers Cup is run annually (usually) on a rotating basis by Long Beach Homebrewers, Strand Brewers Club and Pacific Gravity Home Brewers Club. This year, Pacific Gravity is running the competition.   The PBC is an American Homebrewers Association (AHA)-sanctioned homebrew competition and will use the 2015 beer style guidelines published by the Beer Judge Certification Program.

The main judging will be on November 6th at our host brewery, Tortugo Brewing Co. in Inglewood CA.

Entry registration runs from October 15th through October 29th. Entries may be dropped off at any of the following locations:

Tortugo Brewing Co.
916 W Hyde Park Blvd Inglewood, CA, CA 90302
(424) 227-9963

South Bay Brewing Supply Co.
1311 Post Ave Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 328.2133

Stein Fillers Fermentation Supply
4160 Norse Way, Long Beach, CA 90808
(562) 425-0588

The Home Beer, Wine And Cheesemaking Shop
22836 VENTURA BLVD Unit 2, WOODLAND HILLS, CA 91364
(818) 884-8586

Here are the details Read more →

September First Friday at Richmond Bar and Grill

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Greetings Pacific Gravity,

I hope this message finds you safe and well!  The PG Board continues to struggle with keeping us all safe while allowing some kind of social gathering!  We hope this First Friday will fit the bill!

FIRST FRIDAY AT RICHMOND BAR AND GRILL
Sept. 3, 2021 at 7:00 PM
145 Richmond St, El Segundo, CA 90245  (310) 322-7197
https://www.richmondbarandgrill.com/

We have reserved the back patio for our group, it is outdoors yet in an enclosed area so we won’t have a lot of foot traffic coming through.  This way we can socially distance while being gathered together!

Tom Rierson reports in good things about the pub; the new owners have made some renovations to improve on the location.  He has also arranged that “Old Rasputin” will be one of the offerings on tap that evening.  The beers are $8.00.

So come on out, join your fellow members and lift a pint!

See you there!
Cheers,

Ian Fraser

President

Pacific Gravity

Upcoming Events

  • Sept 16, club meeting at Tortugo Brewing
  • Oct. 1, OCT. First Friday; location TBD
  • Oct 2 (SAT!) Octoberfest summer party!
  • November 6th:  Pacific Brewers Cup at Tortugo Brewing

PG Member Tomm Carroll featured speaker for Masterclass in Italian craft beer

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Veteran Pacific Gravity member, beer writer and international beer judge Tomm Carroll, a longtime advocate for birra artigianale, joins Italian craft beer expert Lorenzo “Kuaska” Dabove for an online Masterclass entitled Untapped Secrets of Italian Craft Beer. 

A collaboration between the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce West (IACCW), headquartered in Los Angeles, and the Accademia delle Professioni in Padua, the class will explore the originality and creativity of modern Italian brewers and the intimate relationship to their homeland through the use of local ingredients. 

Lorenzo and Tomm will be tasting and discussing one of the great and most unique of Italian beers: Nora, from Birra Baladin.  If attendees would like to taste along with them (optional), they can purchase a bottle of Nora at Eataly in Century City in the LA area, or wherever fine Italian craft beers are sold in your region.

Tomm invites you to check out Untapped Secrets of Italian Craft Beer, which takes place online Thursday, July 8, 12:00-1:00 PM PDT (9:00-10:00 PM CET). For more information and complimentary registration (closes July 5), visit

 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/masterclass-untapped-secrets-of-italian-craft-beer-tickets-158188242291